The Thameside Radio 90.2 Story

Endings

By the 5th birthday the growth in quantity was not always matched by a growth in quality.
Increasing numbers of raids by the DTI meant that Thameside Radio's legendary 100% reliability
was no longer there. The presenters became less innovative and the DJ's - while ever professional - sometimes sounded less enthusiastic. After a while listener input
began to drop off - there were fewer letters and special events.There
was a growth in competition. Some of it came from the original members
of Thameside who set up Hilltop Radio which pioneered the (now more common) "zoo" format in contrast to the personality DJ driven approach. Finally the BBC realised that there was a need for rock/pop
shows on Sunday evenings and launched the Annie Nightingale Show on Radio
1 in direct competition to Thameside. Annie had exactly the same format
as Thameside: strong listener involvement - especially through letters,
an identical music policy and even used the same competitions and quizzes.

The station gradually wound down on and following a raid on 15th May 1983 Thameside never reappered.

In a final blaze of glory Thameside pulled off another technical first
- they set up the first pirate TV station. Thameside TV broadcast to north and west
London: The first week Bob and Sarah ran a Christmas special and showed the Beatles' "Yellow
Submarine". The next week they showed music videos while sitting by a Christmas tree. While this was a major technical feat, and received coverage
in the national press it was a one-off. After that Thameside was no more.

The Thameside Radio Story is an achive of material about Thameside Radio 90.2, a London pirate station. It broadcast between 1977 and 1982. Tony Lloyd, Bob Edwards, The Intrepid Birdman, Alex Wright, Paul James, Ian Stewart, Terry Anderson and The Curly Man all presented shows, as did many others. More important were the listeners. This is a live site so if you would just like a namecheck, want to get in touch, have a Thameside Radio 90.2 related photo, Thameside Radio recording or a memory please email me.

I know that a lot of Thameside listeners and friends would like to get in touch with each other again. If you are happy to have e-mail forwarded do write in. Even if you don't have any new information it would be great to hear from you.